Eating out with health anxiety around food

[anxiousfoodie]

Name change to keep the levels of my neurosis somewhat under wraps!

I’ve had mild to moderate health anxiety for years, which was mostly under control until I had a miscarriage immediately after a possible case of food poisoning while trying for my second child. I got pregnant again and DD is now nearly 2, but that incident, combined with a run of sickness bugs from both children and myself has meant my health anxiety has focussed itself on the risk of being sick - either from food or a bug. I had some therapy last year which helped a bit, but a recent spate of articles relating to food poisoning risks has led to a bit of a resurgence.

It’s making me very anxious about choosing food when eating out - which I do quite frequently with work and with the kids.

I’m becoming increasingly paranoid about things like chicken, seafood, eggs, salad and even pre-packaged fruit after seeing a supermarket recall notice for potential e-coli in chopped apple!

So, how do people who don’t suffer from anxiety around food manage these potential risks? Do you just not think about them? Do you weigh the balance of probabilities? Are there sensible rules of thumb you apply when considering safety?

And those who have struggled with this in the past, how have you found a way through?

Please help me moderate the press coverage with some common sense.
(But I ask that people don’t give me a bunch of new foods to worry about!)

Honestly? It doesnt really ever cross my mind, just not something I worry about.

With the recent egg scare, I have made sure the ones I'm buying are British lion stamped and that's as much as I've done.

You could eat vegetarian food and avoid salad maybe? Would cover most of the things you're concerned about. Eggs should be fine if properly cooked.
I am veggie so I don't worry about food poisoning as much as if I was a meat eater. There's lots of good reasons to eat vegetarian food anyway.

if a food item smells/tastes/looks ok, and I'm hungry & think I'll enjoy it/has plenty of nutrients, and there's not something screaming problem like I just saw someone puke on the package... then I eat it.

My kids sometimes suddenly had noro, I imagine they caught at school. Noro is both mildly horrible and absolutely not a big deal.

Go to McDonald’s. Nobody ever got food poisoning there.

I don't think that's entirely accurate. You can get food poisoning from rice for example.

As someone who has suffered from emetophobia for years and thankfully has it mostly under control (although I don't think I'll ever remove the fear fully), avoiding certain foods won't help at all, it'll reinforce the belief they are foods to fear.

The best thing really is to expose yourself to these foods slowly, proving to yourself there is a low risk. That and whenever you are sick, proving to yourself that despite it being unpleasant, it soon passes and doesn't have to run your life. The fear of it is far worse than the actual event, as I proved to myself last Christmas after a short bout of sickness.

Thanks. When my eldest started nursery, I caught 4 sickness bugs in 6 months from him. And when my youngest started, she had a run of 5 since October, including one really awful one that stopped her being able to tolerate lactose. So it’s just become an ever present fixation. Other than the miscarriage, I don’t know if I’ve ever had food poisoning but the two risks are really connected in my mind. I know ultimately you’ll most likely feel rotten for a day or two and then fine, but I go to bed each night wondering if this is the night one of us will wake up vomiting.

Other than being really hot on handwashing I try hard not to let it impact my kids but I’ve noticed the food anxiety creeping up in recent weeks and really want to get a handle on it. The article in the Times about the risks of salad combined with the Salmonella outbreak have been quite unhelpful.

Thank you, this is really helpful. I think you’re right about restricting not being useful. It’s just hard to find the foods appetising when I associate them with the risk. Rice is another one I worry about.

I get this 100%. It's very difficult. You almost have to force yourself a bit and just try things a bit at a time. I'm sure there are foods you actually really like but anxiety takes your appetite away. I really love mussels for example, but I've not been able to eat them for years, probably because someone told me a horror story once of getting food poisoning. I am however now eating prawns, rare steaks, I reheat rice safely. Mussels are my next target.

I did the Thrive Programme, mostly self guided but I did pay for a coach eventually. It wasn't revolutionary in that it didn't cure me, but I learned a lot about myself and have been able to apply the strategies more long term. I'm 10 times better than I was a few years ago.

Unfortunately it's a long road but you CAN feel better, just don't expect results overnight.

Hi op.

I don't worry about it really.

I cut chicken in half to make sure it is fully cooked. If it smells when you open it, I ditch it.

I was never that fussed about hand washing other than after the loo. Kids crawled around at the park before they could walk.

5 second rule for dropped food.

If I'm not sure if something has gone off, I chew a piece first to make sure I don't poison my family. But I am never ever sick. Even when the DC had sickness. I never caught it.

Its just not something that takes any mental space.

I hope you find a way through.

Thank you. I honestly never thought about sickness before my son started nursery (although I’d had on-off bouts of worrying about bigger things like cancer etc) but I genuinely hadn’t been sick in years. Then the last 4 years I’ve got progressively more fixated on it due to proximity to ill children and the miscarriage. It dominates an undue importance in my life. I hope I can find a way to get back to it not occupying my mind.

I’ve never heard of the thrive programme but I’m going to look into it. Thank you.

I get this so much. Eating out used to worry me too, even simple things like ordering a curry or pasta felt scary. I found it easier to check the menu first, maybe pick a plain dish. Small steps help. You're not alone.

Restaurant kitchens will likely be cleaner than my kitchen at home and receive checks. I feel like food is safer out of the house 🤣